


Wedding Too Late

by thatcrazywriterley



Series: The Too Late Tales [28]
Category: AEW, All Elite Wrestling, Being The Elite (Web Series), Professional Wrestling, Young Bucks-Fandom
Genre: Ed Sheeran makes a musical appearance, Multi, Polyamorous Relationships, Polyamory, Wedding Reception, Weddings, brothers share a wife, what really went down in the hallway at the wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:20:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25213075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatcrazywriterley/pseuds/thatcrazywriterley
Summary: The story of what really went down in the hallway on the day of Reader's wedding to Matt.
Relationships: Matt Jackson/Reader, Matt Jackson/Reader/Nick Jackson, Nick Jackson/Reader
Series: The Too Late Tales [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695274
Kudos: 3





	Wedding Too Late

**Author's Note:**

  * For [@lakamaa12 on Tumblr](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%40lakamaa12+on+Tumblr).



> This was heavily requested and questioned about on Tumblr. Matt and Reader dance to Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud." Nick and Reader dance to "In Case You Didn't Know" by Brett Young

_(photo edit by me)_

I sat on a bench in the hallway of the hotel, not quite understanding what was happening. Matt stood a few feet away, halfway between me and Nick, who leaned his shoulders back on the wall. Nick’s hands were stuffed in his pockets, and his blue eyes were on the carpet. A pink tint ran high on his cheeks even as the rest of his face went pale and colorless.

“This isn’t a joke,” Matt said as he rocked back on his heels. “If this is something you want… if you’re willing…”

He watched me closely, his brown eyes searching for something… anything in my face. I felt stuck in an impossible situation. One that I’d never thought of experiencing, no matter how much I’d wished for it.

Nick sighed and ran his hand over his face. “I know you made your choice a long time ago, Y/N,” he said calmly. It didn’t matter. I could hear the hurt in his voice. “If I’d been brave enough at the beginning, things might be different. But it doesn’t matter anymore. You’re here, you’re going to be Matt’s wife.”

I opened my mouth to speak, not sure what words would come. But none would. My tongue was tied against the roof of my mouth.

“I don’t intend to get in the way. And I don’t want things to be messed up between us.” Nick looked at Matt, and I could see the horrible guilt that had taken root in his heart. “You’re still my brother. I want you to be happy. And I don’t want you to ever wonder if you can trust me.”

Matt shook his head and took a few steps toward his brother. “I will _always_ trust you, Nick. With everything. I trust you with my life. In and out of the ring.” He cupped his hand around the back of Nick’s head. “I know who you are. I’ve always known. You’re an honest, good man. Brother or not.”

The two of them stood side by side, just as I’d always known them, as they’d always been. In their suits, they were dashingly handsome. They were a perfect pair, a tandem set who knew each other inside and out. I had never known one without the other, and I’d hated the idea that a moment would come when it would only be one of them at my side. Truthfully, I’d hoped that it never would. I’d done everything I could think of to keep them together, to keep them with me.

Shame rushed through me. I’d never intended it, but I’d led Nick on all these years. Everything I’d done, every little action that I’d convinced myself were just friendly, had been a cruel ploy to keep him in my life. I had willingly given Matt my heart—let him carry it with him from California to Japan and back again—but I hadn’t done it completely. Somehow, someway, I’d kept a part of my heart aside for Nick.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured toward my lap. I couldn’t bring myself to look at either of them. “This is my fault.”

They turned and crossed the hallway in tandem. Matt sank onto the bench beside me. Nick crouched nearby, almost within arm’s reach but not quite. I wished I could pull the two of them close, to hug them against me, to beg them to forgive me for being so selfish. I made myself look at them. They watched me—brown and blue eyes fixed on me with a fearless acceptance—with open expressions.

“It’s not—” Nick began, his fingers clenching against his knees.

I shook my head fervently. Tears stung my eyes. I knew that the moment I started to cry there would be no stopping it. Oh, how I had dreaded this moment. This parting of the ways that I’d hoped so horribly to avoid.

***

Nick watched her with a deep, steady pain lacing through his chest. She was beautiful even in her grief. He hated himself for doing this to her, for ruining this day that belonged to her and to his brother with his declarations. It was unfair. It was perhaps the most selfish thing he’d ever done, and he couldn’t entirely explain why he’d done it.

“It is my fault, Nick,” she said. Her words came out small and broken, and he could see the guilt that bled over her face. He watched her blink a few times before she looked up at him. Nick felt himself get lost in her eyes even as they brimmed over with tears. “I’ve been so selfish, and I’ve hurt you both.”

Matt reached for her hand and squeezed her fingers. “You haven’t hurt me, Y/N. I told you,” he whispered, leaning in and bumping his shoulder against hers gently, “you’re an open book. I’ve known a long time.”

Y/N looked to her husband-to-be, guilt shadowed in her eyes. “I feel like I’ve betrayed you,” she said. It made Nick sick to see her so upset. “I haven’t meant to, Matt, I promise. I thought I was… I thought I could just be friends…”

She drew a deep breath and sobbed, and it broke Nick’s heart. Without thinking, he moved to her other side and took her free hand in his. Matt said he’d known about how his brother felt. It was enough in that moment for Nick to give himself permission to comfort her.

To love her. And to love her openly.

Nick pulled a wad of tissues from his pocket and dabbed them gently beneath her eyes, careful not to smudge her makeup. She sniffled and her lips twitched, almost as if she wanted to smile. He wished she would. He wished he could see her smile at him like she did… one last time.

***

Matt watched his brother and his almost-wife together. The way that their eyes were drawn together, the way that their shoulders relaxed when in each other’s presence… they were easy signs to see. He saw in his brother the same things that he felt within himself. Nick looked at Y/N the way Matt did. And she looked at Nick the same way she looked at him.

“If anyone here is selfish, it’s me,” Matt said quietly. “And it’s time I asked Nick to forgive me for it.”

Nick’s blue eyes looked at his brother with confusion. Matt took a breath.

“I saw how you looked at her that day in the airport,” he confessed. “I knew the moment you decided that you were going to ask her out. God, Nick, it was written all over your face. If I were a better brother—a better man—I would have let it be. I would have forgotten her number. And if things had turned out differently, you would be standing beside her now instead of me.”

He glanced between the woman he loved and the brother who had been his best friend since the day he was born. Guilt churned in his stomach. He licked his lips and tried to force the words past his teeth. “I’m sorry,” he begged. “I’ve been the worst brother to you, and you’ve been nothing but honest and honorable. I’ve robbed you of a life. I’ve robbed _both_ of you of a life.”

For a moment, they were silent. They settled in their revelations, letting them become part of this new reality. And then, when the quiet became almost unbearable, she spoke.

***

“I liked you both from the moment we met. You know that,” I whispered slowly, doing my best to get my thoughts in order. “I’ve loved you both for so long. I don’t even know when I first fell in love with either of you, but it’s a part of me. It’s like the core of my being… my soul. And I know it’s wrong, but I can’t stop it. I can’t stop loving the both of you just the same.”

My heart thundered in my chest. It ached as I looked at Nick. His eyes were on the carpet between his feet. I threaded my fingers with theirs and squeezed. It was up to Nick… if he could forgive Matt… if he wanted this…

“I can’t imagine life without you,” Nick declared. “Either of you. If you want this, Y/N…”

Gentle heat skimmed through my limbs. I stood up and turned to face them. My lips curved in a small smile as I set my fingers beneath their chins and tilted their heads up. I looked from blue to brown eyes and felt certainty settle in my center. “I do.”

***

The reception began as if nothing had happened in the ceremony. People milled about. I sat at the table with Matt on my left and my sister on my right. If I leaned forward just a little, I could see Nick with his easy smiles on his brother’s left. Butterflies dashed through my belly as I thought of this life we were undertaking together.

It swirled through my thoughts as Matt drew me to the dance floor. My sister hooked the train of my dress up to the bustle and took my veil and bouquet. The soft thump of an acoustic guitar spilled out of the speakers as Ed Sheeran began singing about a love that goes on, gets stronger over time. Matt held me close, his forehead against mine, and smiled.

“I love you,” he said. “More today than yesterday. And more tomorrow than today.”

My heart skipped a beat. “I can’t imagine how much. Not with this gift you’ve given me.”

He brushed the tip of his nose against mine. “I’m not whole without you _and_ him. He isn’t whole without me _and_ you.”

“How do we make this work?” I asked, closing my eyes and letting him turn me slowly on the floor.

“With patience and honesty. And love.” He kissed me softly then, a bare brush of our lips together. “Love more than anything.”

The song faded away, replaced by something new. The tune had a country twang to it. The air pressed close and Nick’s voice filtered into the space. “Can I cut in?”

Matt looked at his brother and grinned. He let go of me to give Nick a long, hard hug. Then he winked at me and walked back to the table where he asked my sister to dance. Nick stepped into the place where Matt had been. His smile was bashful, eyes bright and crackling blue.

As Nick took me in his arms, it seemed as if the words to the song floated in for the first time. They couldn’t have been more appropriate. _Here goes nothing. In case you didn’t know…baby I’m crazy ‘bout you. And I would be lying if I said I could live this life without you_.

I smiled and lifted on my toes to press a kiss to his cheek. Then Nick grinned so brightly that it hurt and began to spin me around the floor.


End file.
